Photo by Ninian Reid

  • Michael Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and he’s now on suicide watch.

  • The EMI sale could happen any day now, especially after Universal’s recent bid.

  • Facebook music users have listened to 1.5 billion songs in six weeks, and everybody really likes the interface. Another day, another Zuckerberg success.

  • Adele, John Mayer and Keith Urban are all canceling appearances to undergo throat surgery. Some believe it’s because singers are being overworked.

  • Madonna’s new song leaked, and she’s “very upset” right now, claiming her “true fans wouldn’t do this.” Who besides her “true fans” would actually leak a Madonna song is yet to be determined.

  • Odd Future’s Left Brain, aka Vyron Turner, hit a photographer at the Voodoo Festival New Orleans, and everybody is pissed off.

  • Wal-Mart is starting Black Friday two hours early at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving day this year. Expect shoppers to still be buying CDs, as the music industry still relies on physical album sales for income.

  • The Intercollegiate Broadcasting System has announced a media conference at CUNY starting November 19.

  • Google+ has rolled out new pages for music acts.

  • Gap’s holiday campaign will be “indie” orientated and has a lot of unsigned bands featured in commercials.

  • The producers of hip-hop doc Style Wars launched a Kickstarter campaign whose proceeds would fund the release of the film’s outtakes.

  • TuneCore launched a new service this week to help change the way songwriters receive royalties.

  • Digital music sales are looking great this year.

    Industry Wrap is a weekly CMJ column covering industry-related music news. Send tips
    to Kate Shapiro at kshapiro@cmj.com.